Taking Chances
by likexaxstar
Summary: Ted and Piper had never noticed each other before despite living in the same street. This is however until Teds dog somehow finds his way to Pipers house. Over a short amount of time feelings develop between the two. There's only one problem: Teds fiancé.
1. Chapter One: Homecoming

Hello everyone. I've decided to put my other story (Chains of Love) on hold due to lack of interest from readers. Sorry if you were interested in that story – I kind of lost motivation.

I imagined Piper to look like Minka Kelly, with longer hair and green eyes. I hope you all enjoy the story.  
>I got the idea from lurking Ted Dibiase's twitter pictures of his adorable dog, Riggs. I thought the plot was original and had potential so I just went with it. :D<p>

Rating **may** change.

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><p>Ted Dibiase sighed contently as he made his way up to his front door. It felt so amazing for the West Palm Beach native to be back home. It had been months since he had slept in his own bed or had a home cooked meal. His occupation was demanding but he wouldn't trade that lifestyle and job in for anything.<p>

Pulling his suitcase to a haul, Ted Dibiase Jr placed a hand around the knob of the door and braced himself for his welcome home bear hug from his fiancé. He felt a small smile cross his lips at the thought. The Florida native pushed the door open gently and peered around the door to see an empty hallway, frowning slightly the man grabbed his suitcase and ventured on into the house. He noticed flashing images from across the hall but he heard nothing. Ted had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He dropped his suitcase by the stairway and moved towards the kitchen. To his relief he saw his fiancé cooking lunch while humming to herself. Ted Dibiase grinned as he cleared his throat hoping to make his presence known. The brunette turned her head to the side, pondering who had made that sound. As soon as he had caught her attention, Kristen soon-to-be Dibiase dropped all her kitchen appliances and ran over to her partner and jumped into his embrace, enjoying being in his arms.

"Ugh. It's so great to see you." Ted Dibiase told her with a great big grin on his face as she placed a kiss on her temple. The smaller woman couldn't help but smile in reply as Ted slowly put her back on her feet. "Now as much as I'd love to continue holding you and kissing you, which I do, a hell of a lot –" He explained to the brunette, his words causing her to blush. "I have to go see my Riggs. You have no idea how much I've missed that guy." He told her as he placed a light kiss on her lips before moving towards the back door.

"He's certainly missed you too. He barely did anything while you were gone, not that it's much different to how he acts when you are here, he just seems different." Kristen sighed and frowned slightly as she responded to her future husband before he went outside to look for his dog. Kristen moved behind the counter before she began to continue to cook lunch.

"Babe?" Ted said as he walked through the back door and back into the kitchen, a worried look on his face.

Kristen looked up at the sound of his voice. "Hmm, yeah babe?" She replied back absentmindedly.

"Where's Riggs?" Ted continued as she walked up to the counter, directly facing her. His question caught Kristen's full attention, as she narrowed her eye brows and gazed up at him.

"What do you mean? He's out there isn't he?" Kristen asked as she dropped her cooking utilities and moved from behind the kitchen towards the door. She peered out around the door, searching for the four-legged family member. Just an hour ago, Kristen had seen him playing with one of his toys contently. "Riggs?" She shouted, pleading that the large dog would come sprinting around the back of the garage. "Riggs?" She repeated only to hear silence.

"I looked everywhere for him. He wasn't anywhere out the back; he wasn't in the garage or around the shed. You don't think he somehow escaped do you?" Ted asked his wife as he stood behind her, the worry in his tone rising. He loved that dog as if it were his own child. Riggs literally meant the world to him.

"He might have; I don't know, he's a pretty big dog. But I think I would've hear something if I did." The brunette jerked her head as she responded. She knew how much Riggs meant to her fiancé. Hell the dog meant a lot to her as well.

"Look, I'll go look around for him, and you stay here. Maybe one of the neighbours or someone in general found him. Plus if someone did find him, they might call." Kristen told Ted as she made her way towards the door with Ted in hot pursuit. She grabbed her jacket and placed it around herself before turning to a worried Ted and placing a kiss on his lips.

Once the brunette left, Ted sat on the end of his staircase – which was facing directly towards the door, running his fingers through his short, dark hair. He couldn't believe this was happening. Today was supposed to be a great day. Ted would be home with his beautiful fiancé and his dog, telling stories about Randy, Cody and Mike being idiots – and trust him, there were plenty; perhaps too many to tell in one day. Instead, this day had taken a turn for the worst rather quickly. He wasn't even home half an hour and things had gone completely wrong.

Ted dropped his head in his heads, thinking about all the worst possible scenarios, beginning to do his head in. He contemplated someone maybe finding Riggs and keeping him as their own dog, someone maybe taking him to the pound or even worse, someone running him over with a car. He hoped and prayed that Kristen would find him, or maybe someone else would and be nice enough to read his collar and bring him back home.

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><p>What do you think so far?<br>I didn't want to make Kristen a bitch in this story. I don't know her personally and I gather that she would be a really nice person.  
>Stay tuned for the next chapter. xo<p> 


	2. Chapter Two: Reunion

Piper Leigh Matthews attempted to keep her eyes open for a few moments longer. She was watching one of her favourite TV Shows, one that she had been waiting to return for months. It was about 5:00 PM and she was already half asleep. That's what she gets for studying to be a lawyer as well as being a secretary for one of Florida's most renowned lawyers. Piper knew that she had a large price to pay when she wanted to get her foot in the door.

Not only was Piper attempting to put in hours of textbook studying, but she was forced to basically be a slave to possibly the meanest boss you could ever meet. Andrea Parker had been generous enough to hire Piper as her secretary, despite the fact that she was still studying to become a lawyer; which, all in all really did mean the world to 22 year-old Piper Leigh. But working for Andrea had been all but a walk in the park. Piper knew it would all be worth it in the long run, it just seemed to be impossible to handle at the current time.

The show's commercial had now begun playing and Piper could feel herself drifting to sleep. As her head began to slowly drop and her eyes began to close Piper knew she had to just suck it up. She still had at least another hour of studying to fit in before she could even think about sleeping. The brunette had decided she earned an hour of non-studying to watch the TV show. After all, she had basically cut herself off from civilization.

Piper quickly reached for her warm cup of coffee and began to slowly drain the hot liquid into her mouth. The Florida native rubbed her eyes and continued to read the book in front of her. Okay, so maybe she didn't entirely give herself a break. She followed along the page before she looked up momentarily to gaze out the window. Piper could have sworn she saw a medium sized dirty blonde dog running around in her front garden.

Piper peered out the window hoping to see the frame again, but instead she didn't. Piper narrowed her eyes before shaking her head slightly. "Great. All this stress and exhaustion is making you hallucinate, Piper." The beauty muttered aloud. "Oh, Wonderful, now I'm talking to myself as well." She huffed as she took another sip of coffee and began to read over the lines of text again.

A few moments later, she saw the frame out the corner of her eyes running around and moving towards her back fence. The brunette turned to the large window again and saw nothing. This was really beginning to get on the brunette's nerves. Letting a low huff escape her lips again, Piper Leigh prepared herself to read again. Stretching her arms out slightly, she let her eyes fall on the page again only to be interrupted by a loud bang.

"Okay, now I know I'm not going crazy!" Piper muttered as closed her book and stood up off of her couch, despite the TV show already returning. Piper made her way out to the front door in her grey track suit pants, a black tank top with a long-sleeved black cardigan on top and not to mention her pink ugg boots on her feet. Although the brunette's attire wasn't all that glamorous, her long dark chocolate locks were done to perfection in loose curls, as well as her make-up still put on perfectly.

Piper stepped over her recently cut grass as made her way past her window and towards the back fence. She noticed a gorgeous dog attempting to jump her fence, although had a lot of trouble. Luckily the dog didn't appear to have hurt itself.

"Hey, come here." Piper said softly to the dog as she leaned down slightly and padded the top of her thighs. The dog turned around and without hesitation ran into the brunettes lap waiting to be pat. Piper giggled and began patting the dog and rubbing his ears. "Aw, aren't you a cutie." Piper told the dog as he contently sat down in Piper's lap, his tongue hanging out of his mouth and his eyes glowing with happiness.

Piper could tell almost instantly that this dog was completely friendly. Piper was a fellow dog lover, and after the death of her Labrador two years ago, she never seemed to find the emotional strength to get another dog.

Piper eventually noticed the collar of the dog. She held the tag in her fingers and read it. "So you're Riggs, huh?" She spoke to the dog, who licked Piper's hand in reply. Piper giggled before reading the rest of it; turns out the owner's address was on it, and they actually lived a few houses down. "Well isn't that lucky. I guess we should get you home." Piper explained to the dog, before standing up and leading the dog inside her house. "Stay here, while I go get you a leash." She told Riggs, who sat down and waited for Piper to return.

Piper's dog, Daisy was about the size of Riggs and luckily she had kept all her toys, collars and even her leashes. Upon returning to Riggs, he immediately got up to his feet. Piper wasted no time in hooking the leash up to Riggs and leading him out to the street. Riggs seemed like a loving dog, and apart of her even wanted to keep him, but she knew she couldn't. His owner was probably be going mad looking and worrying about him.

In no time, Piper and Riggs had reached the owners home, which conveniently was only 5 doors down from hers. Piper led Riggs towards the door and knocked lightly, hoping the owner was home.

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><p>Ted was still seated on the end of the staircase. It had been about 40 minutes since Kristen had left, and he had no word from her. Ted hadn't done much at all in the 40 minutes. He had called his parents, hoping that maybe Riggs had somehow made his way there. He had texted Cody and Randy, tell them what was going on. He even texted Marys and Mike, another two close friends of his. The four of them all loved Riggs and he knew they'd probably want to know.<p>

Ted sighed, running his fingers through his short hair once more as he shook his head. As he did this, he jumped at the sound of someone knocking on the door a few feet away from him. Ted swallowed, hoping that nothing bad was behind that door. Slowly pushing himself to his feet, he grasped the knob of the door and opened it. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again to see a stunning brunette standing there holding a leash; and attached to that leash was a perfectly content Riggs.

"Hi." Piper spoke as an incredibly handsome man stood in front of her. Piper was suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious in her attire. "Uhm, Is this your dog?" Piper asked bluntly, not seeming to beat around the bush. I found him in my front yard and his collar had this address on it…" Piper trailed off into to a silence as the man stood there.

Ted's jaw dropped slightly, unsure of what to say or think. Quickly he came to his senses and parted his lips to speak. "Yes, that's my dog. Thank you so much! You don't know how worried I've been." Ted explained to the beauty, who only smiled.

"I can imagine. He seems like a lovely dog." Piper responded with a fond smile as she noticed the man kneel down to pat the dog, who basically jumped into his arms and licked his face. "But here he is and gave him one last pat. Piper had began to turn and walk away but before she could be completely out of sight, she was interrupted by Ted.

"Oh Piper!" He shouted out to her as she began to make her way towards the pathway in front of his house. Piper's head jerked around to look at him. "Here's your leash back." Ted said as he held it up for the brunette. The brunette sighed with relief. She had almost forgotten it. Even though she didn't have Daisy to use the leash on, it still had a lot of sentimental value.

"Oh my god. Thank you." Piper breathed as she jogged up back up to Ted. Ted smiled and shrugged his shoulders at the beautiful brunette as he handed her the leash.

"No problem, it's the _least_ I could do. Now are you sure you don't want to come in or something? I feel like I owe my life to you or something." Ted chuckled at how exaggerated he sounded. Piper laughed with him before shaking her head lightly.

"No it's alright. I actually have to get back home and make myself some dinner." Piper smiled. "But thanks for the offer, I really do appreciate it." Ted smiled in return before they both said their goodbyes again and Piper turned to walk away. Ted could only watch as the beauty walked back down the street.

Once she was out of sight Ted turned and closed the door. He looked down at Riggs and sighed. "You don't know how worried I was, boy." He told the dog as he gave him another pat. Ted stood up and began to walk towards the lounge room. "You also don't know how many people I have to call now that you're safe and sound." Ted sighed as he seated himself next to Riggs on the couch.

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><p>Hope you are all liking the story so far :] No reviews so far, but I was biting at the bit to update the story already. ;D<br>Reviews would be so amazing, but I mainly hope you are all enjoying the story! :D


	3. Chapter Three: A Priceless Favour

Ted's eyes began to slowly flutter open as rays of sunshine woke him from his peaceful slumber. Stretching his arms out, Ted felt a smile play on his lips as he turned onto his side, expecting to see his fiancé lying beside him. Ted's smile soon dropped when he noticed an empty bed beside him. The Florida resident sighed before pulling the bed spread off of him and swung his legs over the side of the bed. His first morning back and his fiancé wasn't even there to greet him. Ted was granted 2 weeks off of work since Creative had nothing for him to do, so he was ecstatic to spend it with his family and friends – mainly his fiancé.

Running his hands over his face, Ted rubbed his eyes and ruffled his hair slightly before standing on the balls of his feet. A shirtless Ted walked out of his master bedroom that he shared with Kristen and made his way downstairs. The house was completely silent, well almost. The only sound that was heard was Riggs' shuffled along the tiles at the end of the staircase as he played with one of his toys. Ted grinned as he stepped off the end step and gave Riggs a pat on the head.

"I'm glad _someone_ is here to welcome me home." Ted murmured before shaking his head prior to walking into the kitchen, Riggs in tow. The dark haired wrestler began brewing a hot cup of coffee when he noticed a white piece of paper lying on the kitchen counter. Once the coffee brewer began brewing the coffee Ted turned and picked up the paper and let his blue hues run over the text.

The note mentioned that Kristen had to go off to work for the day and wouldn't be home until later that afternoon. Ted stuck his tongue into the inside of cheek before throwing the paper down on the counter. It was 8:30AM in the morning, on his first day off and his fiancé was at work? Perfect.

Ted dropped his head slightly and realized how insensitive he was being. Ted was away for months and months on the road, away from his fiancé and _he_ was complaining about his fiancé being at work for the day? Talk about being hypercritical. Ted let all the negative thoughts about his fiancé leaving him at the present time and decided to focus on what to do for the day.

Once his coffee was done Ted poured it into a mug and made his way onto the couch. He began channel surfing while he began to drink the contents of his coffee. The dark haired man sighed when he realized the only thing that was on at 8:30 AM on a Wednesday morning was children programs – and not the cartoons that Ted and fellow wrestlers _secretly_ enjoyed watching, no he was talking about the Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street crap. There were also a couple of news programs on too but Ted didn't find them all that interesting.

Deciding that maybe he should go for a run, the Florida native pushed himself off of the couch and attempted to swallow as much of the hot liquid as possible. Ted made his way up stairs and changed into a pair of adidas pants and a wife beater. Ted made his way down the stairs again and back into the kitchen and made himself a protein shake. As he was blending all the ingredients, he glanced towards the digital clock on the oven. It was only 9:00AM. He still had plenty of time to go for a jog and clear his mind.

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><p>"What do you mean I have to be there in 10 minutes? I live like 15 - 20 minutes away! I can't get you your coffee <em>and<em> make it there on time. You know Starbucks is hectic at this hour. Not to mention I don't have a car! You know it's in the shop." Piper explained to Andrea as her Blackberry rested against her ear while she attempted to hold it into place with her shoulder. "Yes, of course this means a lot to me." She muttered in response as Piper attempted to put one earring into her ear while accidently pocking her earlobe. "_Ouch_." She mumbled as the brunette attempted again, thus being successful this time.

Upon putting both earrings into her ears, Piper was still listening to Andrea lecturing her. Piper just rolled her eyes as she tilted her body slightly while she put her Jimmy Choo black heels on. "Yes I did use to be a great track runner but that was high school and it's a little different in heels and a tight pencil skirt, especially considering your office is right in the city." Piper argued at how ridiculous her boss was sounding. "No! I will not hitchhike! You never know who lives in this city, Andrea! Why don't you send one of your drivers over to my house?" Piper suggested as her tone softened.

Piper grabbed her bag that contained her purse, phone, keys, paper work for Andrea's clients and numerous of Piper's school books. "Oh, yes Andrea, _I'm_ the one being ridiculous." Piper rolled her eyes as sarcasm wreaked in her tone. "Look, I'll get there as soon as I can." Piper said as she waited for her boss to reply instead getting the dial tone. Piper had the door open and was about to walk out when her boss had hanged up on her. Using her left hand, the brunette pulled the phone in front of her and exited the screen as she glanced at the phone in shock.

"You've got to be _fucking_ kidding me!" Piper shouted at the phone as she angrily stomped her heel against the cement. Piper ran her fingers through her long locks and shoved her head back. What was she supposed to do now? Throwing her phone in her bag the Florida native sighed in frustration, unsure of what to do.

"Is everything alright?" A voice asked the younger woman. Piper took a deep breath and lifted her head forward. She noticed Ted, the guy she meet the day before when she returned his dog, standing at the end of her driveway in workout attire and sporting a concerned look on his face.

Piper walked towards him and forced a small smile. "Yeah, everything's just peachy." Piper told him unconvincingly. "Just a small set-back, nothing major." Piper lied. Ted narrowed his eyes at the brunette standing a couple of feet away from him.

"Are you sure? Because if you need some kind of help I'm more than happy to help." Ted responded. He could tell by the look in her eyes that it was more than just a "small set-back". Piper also didn't seem like the kind of person who used that kind of language that often, even if it was just the f-word. Ted studied her. It was almost as if she was transparent to him.

Piper lightly shook her head, feeling her eyes slowly water. It was stupid to cry over something like this, she knew it was. She was just so mad at Andrea and she knew she couldn't take it out on her. She also knew that if she didn't make it to Andrea's office soon, she could kiss her dreams of being a Lawyer goodbye and all the studying and all the slavery at the hands of Andrea she had suffered would all go down the drain. "Really Ted its fine. I appreciate the offer and all, but I doubt you could do anything." Piper told him with a genuine smile. Piper blinked a few times trying to push away her tears as she tilted her head back a bit again.

"Try me." Ted simply said to the brunette. "I mean it. You never know, I could save you from whatever crisis you're in. Besides it really is the least I could do for you." Ted smiled at her, hoping she would just accept his offer to help her. It really would make him feel better after what she did for him.

The woman sniffed and shrugged her shoulders as she looked directly at the man. "Do you think you could get me into the city in 5 minutes?" Piper asked quietly, knowing that her request was almost impossible. Ted couldn't help but laugh. What she was asking _was_ impossible. Ted looked at the brunette to see that she was as amused. Piper crossed her arms and shook her head. "Forget I asked." She muttered before walking off down the path.

Ted ran after her and grabbed her arm gently. "Whoa. Wait up. I wasn't laughing because I wasn't going to do it. I'm more than happy to drive you into the city; I just can't do it in 5 minutes. I couldn't do that if I had a Ferrari on me. I _might_ however be able to get you there in 15 or so minutes, and that's if we miss most of the traffic." Ted said as he glanced up into her green hues.

"You don't have to. It's fine. I can just walk." Piper said as Ted gave her a 'you can't be serious look'. Piper shrugged."… really, really fast."

Ted chuckled. "In those shoes and that skirt? I'm a guy and even I can tell that's impossible. Come on, I'm not taking no for an answer." Ted said as he began walking down the path in front of her towards his house. "Piper. If you don't follow me and get into my car voluntarily, I will grab you and carry you in there. That's a _promise_." Ted told her playfully, causing the woman to smile.

"Fine." Piper gave in and followed Ted, much to his delight.


	4. Chapter Four: Mr DiBiase

"This can't be happening." Piper murmured as she tilted her head back against the seat and stared directly up at the inside of the car ceiling. Ted and Piper were doing really well on the road, they were literally getting all green lights and the roads were pretty much clear. Ted didn't seem to notice, but Piper had become slightly suspicious that there was barely any traffic on the road; although Ted had told her to _"just go with it."_

So she did.

But it wasn't long until all their good luck had come to an end, and they were stuck in a huge traffic jam on the highway separating them from the City. There were cars here, there and everywhere. Piper knew that she was doomed.

"Two years of studying down the drain." Piper groaned as she imagined what would happen once they finally got out of this traffic jam and made it to Andrea's office. Ted began beeping his horn, over and over again, making a continuous beeping noise that was causing Piper's head to spin but she wasn't going to complain because she knew Ted was doing it for her.

Eventually someone shouted "Shut _UP_! That's not making the traffic move any quicker!" Some random somewhat over-weight man yelled from 2 lanes down as he leaned out of his window with a grimace on his face, giving Ted the finger.

"OI! Don't you flip me off, dude! Because trust me I won't hesitate in kicking your ass from here to front of this traffic jam! So don't even think about testing me because my friend here has somewhere important to be and I promised her we'd make it there. So if you have a problem with this," Ted paused and started to beep his horn a few times, which caused me to giggle softly, before he continued. "Then you can take it up with my right fist!" Ted shouted back as he leaned out of his window as well just like the random did; though surprisingly _not_ giving the guy the finger back.

"How do you know that _I_ don't have somewhere important to be?" The guy retorted before his face soften. "Oh my god! You're Ted Dibiase! Dude, I'm a huge fan. Seriously." The guy told him with a goofy smile.

_Ted Dibiase,_ Piper thought to herself. _Why does that sound so familiar? _She thought to herself once more. _Was he famous?_ She pondered. She considered that maybe Ted was some kind of footballer. He seemed like an athletic guy and Piper never paid much attention to football, so it wouldn't surprise her if his name sounded familiar but his face did not.

"Sheila! Oi, Sheila! I just flipped THE Ted Dibiase off." The guy told his girlfriend who joined her partner out of the window in excitement. Ted just rolled his eyes, sighing aloud. "Hey dude, do you think I could come over and get an autograph off of you? And maybe a photo? That would be SO amazing! It would make my life." The man said.

Ted huffed before he turned to Piper with apologetic eyes. "You don't mind do you? I'm _really_ sorry."

Piper looked back at him with a soft smile, before putting her hands in air and shaking her head lightly. "Nah, of course not. This line isn't moving any quicker." She responded softly. Ted mouthed "thank you" to her and returned her smile before telling the pair that they could get a photo and autograph with him.

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><p>"Thank you so much Mr. Dibiase. I am so honored to have flipped you off." The guy said causing Ted to chuckle softly. Piper watched on at the situation somewhat amused at it all. She couldn't believe that Ted was famous! She also couldn't believe that he was so calm after the two had just basically abused each other from across the highway. "I am really sorry about that as well. It's an anger thing, I'm working on it."<p>

"No problem and you're both welcome." Ted sent them both a gorgeous smile and the trio all said goodbye to each other. Once they were back in the car, Ted turned to Piper. He opened his mouth to speak but Piper interrupted him before he could continue.

"So _Mr. Dibiase_… I didn't know you had your own little fan club." Piper chuckled softly as she motioned the pair who were giddy with excitement. Ted chuckled with her as he turned to the couple before he quickly turned his attention back to the stunning brunette in his car. "Now are you going to tell me how you're famous or are you going to leave me guessing?"

Ted contemplated for a moment or so. "I would actually like to see you guess. We have plenty of time, the line hasn't moved at all in the past 10 minutes. So come on, give me your theories and humor me." Ted said with a grin on his face as he sat directly across from her.

"Alright then." Piper responded. "I'll take that challenge." She grinned back as she sat up and sat directly from him. "Well, I'll admit that your name is awfully familiar, but I can't seem to figure out where from. My first guess is that you're an athlete?" Piper queried as she squinted her eyes momentarily, hoping she was correct. Ted paused before nodding.

"Correct. I'm an athlete. I mean can't you tell? Just take a good look at these guns." Ted replied cockily before flexing his biceps for Piper which caused her to chuckle at his cockiness. She would never admit this to him, but he had an amazing body. She wasn't big on looks. She liked something nice to look at and all, like anybody, but she more about personality. Though for some reason Piper was almost in awe over his perfectly sculptured body that was somehow teasing her from under that wife beater.

"Well you certainly have the cockiness down packed." She smirked at him before she continued trying to name how Ted was famous. "My first instinct is… footballer?" Piper asked hesitantly. Ted narrowed his eyes slightly before shaking his head. "Ohh! Damn! Well, what do you do?"

"I'm a wrestler." He admitted. Piper paused and looked at him for a couple of moments as silence filled the car. Cocking her eyebrow, Piper studied his face and body language before letting out a loud chuckle. Ted laughed with Piper. "What? What's so funny?" Ted questioned.

Piper laughed for a few moments before calming herself a little, still letting a few giggles escape. "You're not a wrestler." She said shaking her head.

"How would you know if I wasn't?" Ted retorted, raising his brow. Piper narrowed her eyes. He had a good point, but still, she was positive that he wasn't a wrestler. "Are you a wrestling fan?" The Florida resident asked the brunette.

"Well, I'm a _former_ wrestling fan." She stated in a matter-of-factly tone. Ted gave her a confused look. "Well, I haven't watched it in about 5 years. I use to watch it all the time with my dad. Back then I could tell you anything and everything about Wrestling, even more so – WWE." Piper explained to Ted.

"Why'd you stop?" He simply asked. He was genuinely interested in that she had to say. He was also interested in directing the attention off of him and more towards her.

"My dad died." She frowned as her face dropped and she glanced down at her hands as she fiddled with her fingers. She found herself always fiddling with something whenever her dad came into conversation. "It was always something I did with him; it was _our_ thing, you know." She sighed praying she wouldn't cry. Ted immediately felt guilty for bringing it up. "I never found the strength to watch it after he was gone."

Ted swallowed. "I'm so sorry. Forget I even mentioned it." He assured her although knowing that she basically had spilled the beans about the subject. Piper shook her head softly before sniffing softly.

"It's alright. I'm not going to cry." She said as laughed flatly. "It was a while ago. So I've come to terms with it all, I think." Piper sighed before forcing a smile. "Let's just forget this whole depressing conversation happened, yeah?" Piper responded causing Ted to nod right away. "So I take it you really are a wrestler? And I'm just adding two and two together when I say that you must've debuted a few years back, after I stopped watching."

"I debuted in 2008. So that explains why you were hell-bent on believing that I wasn't a wrestler." Ted chuckled causing Piper to smile. "I'm actually a third-generation wrestler." Ted explained proudly sending a grin Piper's way.

"Oh! Now I know why your name is so familiar!" Piper exclaimed as she pointed at Ted. "Your father is Ted Dibiase, the Million Dollar Man." Piper said to him.

"He sure is." Ted chuckled as his grin turned into a genuine smile. "I'm surprised you'd even know who he was, considering your age and all."

Piper's eyes widened. "You're not serious right? Everybody knows who your father is!" Piper said, laughing softly. "Especially my father. He was a huge fan of your dad. If only he knew that I lived down the road from Ted Dibiase's son. He'd probably kick me out of my house just so he could live there." Piper explained exaggeratedly causing Ted to chuckle along with her.

"Your dad seemed like a pretty cool guy." Ted spoke as the two had finished laughing. Piper nodded and mentioned that he was. "But anyway, enough about myself and our fathers, I want to know about you." Ted said as he drove up a few feet once the traffic moved a little before bringing to car to stop again. "It looks like we won't be going anywhere soon."

Piper nodded her head. "That seems fair." She said before sighing. She couldn't help but bear the thought of what would happen when she had to face Andrea. But Piper decided to push Andrea as far out of her mind as possible. "Okay then. What do you want to know?"


	5. Chapter Five: Getting To Know Piper

"So many things…" Ted told her honestly. He felt as if he knew nothing about this girl, with perhaps the exception of a few things. "Hm. Let's start off with your full name." Ted asked her with a mischievous glow in his eyes. He was determined to know all there was to know about this girl.

"Why do you want to know my full name?" Piper asked with a small giggle as she leaned back into the seat and crossed her left leg over her right and shuffled her body lower into the seat, attempting to get more comfortable in the small space that she was given to work with.

"Because considering you know mine, I only see that's the fair thing to do." Ted responded as he rested his elbow against the steering wheel, being cautious of not setting off the horn.

"But there's a bit of a difference considering you could just go on Wikipedia and find out _your_ name and no doubt your whole life story." The brunette retorted with a smirk crossing her lips as Ted cocked his eyebrow at her smartass comment. Ted stuck his tongue in his sheet and let out a small chuckle at her, Piper biting down on her bottom lip and laughing with him. "But if it's that important to you my full name is Piper Leigh Matthews." She responded.

"I like it." Ted told her honestly. Piper turned to him and narrowed her brows. "What? It's a nice name." Ted shrugged causing Piper to let out a sarcastic snort. "I have a question though. Is your name pronounced Piper Leigh, or just Piper? Because I know a lot of people who have both their first and middle name pronounced together and yours sounds like one." The wrester question nonchalantly.

"Well family and friends, especially my mother, refer to me as Piper Leigh because that's how I was named." The brunette sighed as she rolled her eyes. "But I'm not that fond of my name, so I just usually tell people to call me Piper."

Ted nodded. "I think you should go by Piper Leigh. It's a nice name-combo." Ted spoke with a small nod in her direction. "It suits you."

Piper chuckled before letting a genuine smile part from her lips. "Thanks, Theodore." She replied grinning at Ted when he raised his brow at her. "Hey look, the cars are moving." Piper acknowledged, causing Ted to turn his direction the road in front of him. They had spent about half an hour in traffic and it was a bit of a relief for Piper to get moving. Although, she probably wouldn't admit this aloud, because she knew how badly Ted wanted to get her there as quick as possible, she was actually quite disappointed when she realized their time was limited.

"Well, we still have a good 10 minutes to go so why don't you tell me some basic info about yourself." Ted said to her, glancing at her momentarily as he followed the now semi-clear road ahead of him.

"Alright sure." Piper smiled at him. "First things first, as you know, the name's Piper." Piper told him as she sat now vertically straight and gave him a nod as she pointed her two manicured index fingers at herself. Ted nodded back and continued to drive along the road. "Born September 14th. I'm 22 years old, but I'm very mature for my age." The brunette stated, causing Ted to playfully cough at her comment. "Oi!" She said as she hit him. "I was born and raised in Orlando." Piper continued, Ted acknowledging every word she was saying.

"I'm an only child, so you could imagine how spoilt I was slash am. I'm also a pretty calm person, despite the little outburst you saw this morning –" Piper paused as she noticed Ted chuckle softly at the memory. "And I enjoy long strolls along the beach." She added sarcastically.

"Cool, Cool. So any man in your life?" Ted asked quickly as he glanced at her momentarily to notice her cock her brow. "Or Woman? I don't judge."

"I'm straight, despite making out with my best friend on graduation; long story, not all that interesting." The brunette spoke in a quick tone, hoping to avoid the subject. She noticed Ted exchange a couple of glances in her direction, a grin relaxed on his plump lips.

"Not all that interesting?" He repeated as his eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding me right? That sounds like a _helluva_ interesting story!" The dark haired man responded playfully, causing the brunette to punch him in the arm playfully.

"But to answer your original question," Piper began sending a glare Ted way momentarily before continuing. "Pretty much single at the moment and enjoying it." The brunette lied. She knew she didn't have time for a boyfriend considering she was basically _married_ to Andrea and her school work, but she often got lonely whenever she came home to an empty house.

"I'll be honest, I didn't expect that." Ted laughed softly causing Piper to blush slightly. "So you said you were originally from Orlando?" Ted question as he glanced towards the brunette, who nodded at him. "Then why'd you move to West Palm?"

"School." Piper said nonchalantly as she noticed that they were almost heading into the city.

"All this way for school?" Ted asked her becoming more and more interested in this girl. Piper looked at him and nodded before giving him a small smile. "So what are you studying then?"

"Law – although I don't attend University. Well, I do but I don't. It's complicated. Basically I'm enrolled and all that, I just don't have to attend the classes. I have to do all the work and studying everyone else has to do, I just get all the work and things I need to progress on through email." Piper explained. She was really fortunate that her University allowed her to work as Andrea's secretary as well as be able to study and become a Lawyer.

"Wow, Law? You must be one smart cookie then." Ted playfully joked causing the Orlando native to laugh softly. "So how does this 'not attend class' thing work?"

"Basically, I work for Andrea Parker. The best Lawyer in Florida, without a doubt. I got the opportunity a year and a half ago to work for her after spending half a year at PBA on scholarship. Andrea worked out a deal with the university and they allowed it. I just had to work that much harder than everyone else."

"But I do get a head start on my career as a Lawyer ahead of the class and I'm learning a lot, so it'll all work out in the long run." Piper responded before letting a small sigh escape her lips. "If I'm not fired, that is." She mumbled as her eyes dropped to her hands.

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><p>Sorry it's short; it's more of a filler chapter so the readers can get to know more about Piper.<br>This is literally the _third_ chapter I have written in one day because of that stupid login error. .  
>I'm going to be adding the next chapter straight away because this one is so short :)<p> 


	6. Chapter Six: A Devilish Confrontation

Ted parked out the front of a large building that he was told was Piper's work. Once he turned the ignition on, the car was silent. Ted turned to Piper and noticed her aimlessly gazing up at the building with a light frown on her glossy lips. Piper sighed and turned to Ted with a grateful smile.

"Thanks Ted." She spoke softly as she began to brace herself for the worst possible thing to happen once she reached up there. It had been 40 minutes since Ted and Piper had got into the car and Piper knew she was in huge trouble. "Time to face the music I guess." The brunette murmured upon opening her door. Turning to the dark-haired man she raised her voice from the soft whisper she was previously speaking in. "Thanks again. It's really nice of you to drive me here. I'll guess I'll see you around."

Ted nodded and tried not to seem too disappointed to see the brunette leave. Piper grabbed her bag and stepped out of the car and softly closed the door behinds her after giving Ted one more smile. Ted watched as she took a deep breath and began to walk toward the building. For some reason, out of the blue, completely on instinct, Ted found himself climbing out of his car and running up to her.

Piper felt a presence next to her. The Orlando native turned her head to see Ted walking next to her. The brunette stopped, a stunned and puzzled look on her features. "Ted?" She spoke before glancing momentarily at his car and back to him. "What are you doing?" She laughed softly.

Ted shrugged. "I figured maybe you could use some support. Besides maybe I can win her over with my boyish charm and dashing features." Ted suggested with a cocky grin on his lips. Piper couldn't help but throw her head back in laughter at Ted's cockiness. The man paused for a moment, glancing towards the ground shaking his head slightly. "I spend way _too_ much time with Cody." He sighed while Piper couldn't help but chuckle softly at him again.

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><p>Once the elevator came to haul, Piper could feel the butterflies in her stomach reaching their climax. It was time. Closing her eyes, Piper stepped out of the elevator with Ted next to her and hoped that she would go unnoticed by Kailey. Kailey was the receptionist and one of Piper's closest friends. It wasn't that Piper was avoiding her friend, she was just hoping she could sneak into her office and figure out what to do from there. Once Piper was nearing her office, after passing an occupied Kailey with Ted in tow, she heard a deep feminine voice clear their throat.<p>

The sound made Piper jump and turn in the direction of the noise accidently bumping into Ted. "Sorry." Piper said as she touched his arm. Piper straightened her composure as she noticed the one person she prayed she wouldn't see – _Andrea_. Piper closed her eyes and gulped. This couldn't be good news at all.

There stood the closest thing known to man as the devil, arms folded, eye brow raised and a stern look across her features. To say that Andrea was intimidating was without a doubt a huge understatement. Piper could have sworn she even saw Teds eyes widen slightly.

"Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in." Andrea spoke in a bitter tone, narrowing her eyes at the brunette. Piper couldn't help but avoid eye-contact with Andrea. "And wow, only 40 minutes late." She continued with sarcasm dripping through her tone.

"Look, Andrea I can explain. You called me so suddenly, and I didn't have a car, but Ted was nice enough to give me a ride," Piper began feeling her face begin to flush. "But then there was this huge traffic jam and –" Piper continued to ramble on before she was stopped mid sentence, her mouth opened slightly, by Andrea placing one hand in front of her, signalling her to shut up. Piper quickly closed her mouth and bit down nervously on her bottom lip.

The whole scenario caught Kaileys attention and she soon removed her headpiece to exchange glances between a stern Andrea and a nervous Piper, her eyes wide with interest. Kailey barely moved as Piper waited for Andrea to speak.

"I don't have time for your excuses, Matthews." Andrea explained, calling Piper by her last name like she always did, in her usual neutral tone; not angry nor pissed – just neutral. Andrea had a way with doing that, which was probably why she was the best of the best. It also made her that much more intimidating. "Obviously this opportunity I was generous enough to give you, means absolutely nothing to you." Andrea continued, her tone not faulting one bit as she shook her head pettily at Piper. "I knew I shouldn't have hired a little girl to do a woman's job." The older woman murmured.

"Excuse me?" Piper exclaimed incredibly offended by her last comment. "Andrea you know I'm more than capable of doing this job. All of this was out of my hands." Piper raised her voice in response getting frustrated with her boss.

"Well, sorry Piper, but that's just not good enough."

Piper's mouth dropped and her eyes widened. The Florida resident clenched her jaw and opened her mouth to speak but was soon interrupted by Ted – who or a moment she had forgotten was there. "Look, Ms. Parker. This is not Piper's fault. It's actually mine. Piper was doing me a favour. You see, I got in a little trouble with the police a couple weeks back and I was talking to Piper about my options." Ted spoke politely to the woman as Piper turned to him, her eyes brows narrowed and confused. _They never discussed any of that…_ she thought to herself.

Andrea turned her attention to Ted raising her brow. "And who exactly are you?" She asked Ted.

"Oh, I'm Ted Dibiase Jr." Ted replied as he held his hand out to shake although Andrea simply used her left hand to push it way. Ted gave her a flat smile and took a deep breath.

"Oh, I know you!" Kailey spoke up with a few potato chips in her mouth, pointing at Ted. Andrea and Piper only just remembered that Kailey was there also. Everyone turned their attention to blonde who held her mouth open for a moment before realizing it would be more polite to close it – especially with a mouthful of chewed up potato chips. "You're that wrestler guy with the really rich dad!" Kailey continued her eyes glowing with excitement.

"_Rich_?" Andrea repeated, her head perking up slightly at the word.

"Yeah! They called him 'The Million Dollar Man.' He used to carry around this Million dollar championship. It was like seriously sparkly. I believe it had real diamonds and stuff." Kailey continued while she nodded enthusiastically. Piper couldn't help but smile at her friend. Ted bowed his head in Kaileys direction as if to confirm what Kailey had said.

"Is that true?" Andrea asked as she turned to the Florida native, who simply nodded. "Wow. Well if you're in trouble with the Law, why don't you come into my office and we'll talk?" Andrea suggest with a smirk toying on her lips.

Ted glanced at Piper momentarily before returning his attention to the older woman. "Thanks, but I actually would prefer to talk to Piper about it all." Ted explained as he sent a small grin in Pipers direction. Piper tried her hardest not to laugh, so she stuck her tongue into the inside of cheek preventing her from laughing. Now, she knew exactly what Ted was up to.

"You've got to kidding. Piper's not a lawyer. She's a law _student_, and my secretary but that's all – hell, she's barely even that." Andrea said in a matter-of-factly tone, sending a cold stare in Piper's attention. Piper gritted her teeth and turned in another direction, avoiding eye contact with Andrea.

"Is that so? Well, if I can't have Ms. Matthews represent me, then I'll just have to go over to Gary Walters." Ted said, knowing that he was the other top Lawyer in town, and ironically Andrea's greatest enemy slash competition. "He helped my friend win a drug case. Maybe he'll be more fitted. Thanks for your time." Ted bluffed causing a grin to play on Pipers lips. Ted held his nose up in the air and began to walk towards the elevator before Andrea spoke up once more.

"Wait!" She said as she reached out to stop Ted. "Perhaps…" Andrea began glancing at Piper. "We can work something out." Andrea continued as she threw her right hand in the air carelessly.

"Perfect." Ted said with a smile.

"Yep, Perfect." Andrea repeated under her breath through gritted teeth. "Well come on into my office both of you and we'll see what we can work out." Andrea ordered as she began to strut into her office.

Ted widened his eyes and turned to Piper, who had the same look on her face; neither expected to have to actually have Andrea take any interest in the case. As far as they were both concerned, they were both screwed. "What?" Ted mouth as he noticed Piper bite down on her bottom nervously before shrugging her shoulders. She knew that what Ted had told Andrea was complete bullshit, but now they were in too deep to get out.

"Are you coming?" Andrea spoke from her door to the two, who quickly straightened their composure and walked towards her, Ted leading the way. As Piper walked past the desk she noticed Kailey lean up over it.

"What is going on?" She whispered over the desk her features puzzled.

"I'll explain everything later." Piper whispered back before quickly following Ted into Andrea's office. She had no idea what was about to go down, but she had a feeling that it was not going to go well.

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><p>I've already written up the next chapter, but considering I've now posted <strong><span>three<span>** chapters _today_ and I only have 3 reviews, I'll wait until tomorrow sometime or later today, depending on your time zones. Thanks to the people who have reviewed so far. It means a lot. xo


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